The judges of the Los
Angeles Superior Court have elected Deputy Alternate Public Defender Sharon
Lewis Miller to be the court’s newest commissioner, court officials said
yesterday.

A court spokesperson
told the MetNews that Miller was elected to fill the position vacated by
Commissioner Gary A. Polinsky’s retirement, and that Miller has told the court
she will take the oath of office April 9.

A 1991 admittee to the
State Bar of California, Miller received her undergraduate degree from Mills
College in Oakland and attended Southwestern University School of Law.

The court spokesperson
said that ballots for the election were mailed out March 11, and that they were
returned on Wednesday and counted yesterday, at which time Miller was notified
of the decision.

Miller was the
highest-ranked candidate on the list of nominees for the position. Under local
rules, vacant superior court commissioner positions that are not converted into
new judgeships by SB 56 are filled by a vote of the judges from a list of candidates
nominated by a court panel, with the timing of the election determined by the
presiding superior court judge.

The court is expected to
convert two commissioner vacancies into judgeships this year.

Following Miller’s
election, 26 candidates remain on that list in the following ranked order: